Industry-Leading Hemp Resources

For thousands of years this plant has been grown for cordage and cloth. For centuries all the ships that sailed the western seas were rigged with hempen ropes and sails. For the sailor, no less than the hangman, hemp was indispensable. A 44-gun frigate like our cherished Old Ironsides took over 60 tons of hemp for rigging, including an anchor cable 25-inches in circumference. The Conestoga wagon and prairie schooners of pioneer days were covered with hempen canvas. Indeed, the very word canvas comes from the Arabic word for hemp. When Manila hemp, from the Navy’s rapidly diminishing supply, is gone, American hemp will go on duty again: hemp for mooring ships, hemp for tow lines, hemp for tackle and gear, hemp for countless Naval uses both on ship and shore. Just as the days when Old Ironsides sailed the seas victorious with her hempen shrouds and hempen sails. Hemp for Victory! ~ Hemp for Victory Film, USDA 1942